Brock Purdy shook off turnovers on Iowa State's first two possessions to set a school record for total offense and the Cyclones scored their most points in 113 years in a 72-20 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.
Purdy was intercepted on ISU's first play from scrimmage and then lost a fumble on the Cyclones' second drive. But the sophomore quarterback then led them on eight consecutive scoring drives, three ending with him scoring rushing touchdowns.
A pair of 7-yard Purdy scoring runs put Iowa State up 14-0 late in the first quarter, and he also scored from 13 yards out on the first drive of the second half to put the Cyclones (2-1) up 34-13.
He connected with Deshaunte Watson on an 84-yard scoring strike with 8:37 left in the third to make it 41-13, and his 12-yard TD pass to Sean Shaw with 19 seconds left in the third upped the advantage to 48-20.
Purdy finished with a school-record 510 yards of total offense. He was 21 of 27 for 435 yards and three TDs, falling five yards short of the school passing record set by Austen Arnaud in 2008, while rushing for 75 yards and three scores.
The six total TDs tied the Cyclones single-game mark first set by Bret Oberg in 1989.
The Cyclones tallied 714 yards of total offense, scoring on every possession after those two empty ones to start. The 72 points were their most since 1906.
ISU also forced three turnovers, including a 48-yard interception return for a TD by Jake Hummel midway through the fourth quarter.
Louisiana-Monroe (1-2) couldn't capitalize on ISU's early giveaways, reminiscent of its 45-44 loss at Florida State on Sept. 7 when it botched an extra point in overtime. The Warhawks missed a 31-yard field goal after the Purdy pick and turned it over on downs at the Cyclones' 31 following the fumble recovery.
A 19-yard TD pass from Caleb Evans to Josh Pederson got ULM within 21-7 with 10:26 left in the first half, and the Warhawks trailed 24-13 with 2:50 left before halftime on a 1-yard Josh Johnson run.
Evans finished with 176 passing yards and two TDs and 93 rushing yards as ULM ran for 228 yards, 82 more than ISU had allowed in its first two games.
--Field Level Media
